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The official names for the new minerals are elaliite and elkinstantonite.
Canadian researchers said the rock was found in rural Somalia two years ago, but locals believe it is much older.
They call the stone Nightfall, and say it is documented in poems, songs and dances that stretch back five generations. It is used today to sharpen knives.
A huge meteorite that fell to Earth contains two minerals never seen before on our planet, scientists say.
Canadian researchers said the rock was found in rural Somalia two years ago, but locals believe it is much older.
They call the stone Nightfall, and say it is documented in poems, songs and dances that stretch back five generations. It is used today to sharpen knives.
The official names for the new minerals are elaliite and elkinstantonite.
They were identified by scientists at the University of Alberta who looked at a 70g fragment from the 15-tonne meteorite, which is said to be the ninth-biggest to reach our planet and is about 90% iron and nickel.
The name “elaliite” honours the fact that the meteorite was unearthed in the district of El Ali in Somalia, and “elkinstantonite” is named after Nasa expert Lindy Elkins-Tanton.
“Lindy has done a lot of work on how the cores of planets form, how these iron nickel cores form, and the closest analogue we have are iron meteorites. So it made sense to name a mineral after her and recognise her contributions to science,” said Prof Chris Herd who curates the University of Alberta’s meteorite collection.
A third, as-yet unidentified mineral, is being analysed by the university’s researchers who now hope to get their hands on more of the meteorite – not only to see what else they might discover, but also how it could be used on Earth.
“Whenever there’s a new material that’s known, material scientists are interested too because of the potential uses in a wide range of things in society,” Prof Herd said of the “exciting” research.
source/content: the-star.co.ke (Star) / BBC News, Africa (headline edited)
Rare first-edition copy of “Prehistoric Rock Art of Northern Saudi Arabia” was on sale at Sharjah International Book Fair
There was little or no recognition of the Kingdom’s ancient past before Majeed Khan’s book was published in 1993
In May 1976, Majeed Khan, a young graduate of the University of Sindh, Pakistan, traveled to Saudi Arabia to join the Ministry of Tourism as an archaeological consultant, advising on the development of museums and the conduct of archaeological investigations in the country.
It was to prove an inspired appointment.
Back then, with Saudi Arabia riding the wave of the first great oil boom and focused necessarily on its rapidly evolving future, archaeology in the Kingdom was in its infancy.
But in Khan the country had found a champion for one of its greatest heritage treasures — ancient rock art, thousands of examples of which are strewn across the landscape and which attest to a history of human culture that stretches back 10,000 years.
Khan, who lives in Riyadh, and at the age of 80 still works as a consultant to the Ministry of Culture’s Antiquities Department, has devoted his entire working life to a subject that continues to fascinate and surprise him to this day.
He received another surprise last month when he learned that his seminal book, “Prehistoric Rock Art of Northern Saudi Arabia,” published by the Saudi Ministry of Education’s Department of Antiquities and Museums in 1993, was now considered a collector’s item.
A first-edition copy was offered for sale for £1,250 ($1,448) by a specialist London book dealer at the UAE’s Sharjah International Book Fair, which ran from Nov. 2 to 13.
That, Khan felt, was a lot of money. But on the other hand, “it was the first research book on rock art published in any Arab country,” he said. At the time it came out, “there was no rock art taught in any Saudi university and no real rock art research in Saudi Arabia.”
Furthermore, there was little or no recognition in the wider world of Saudi Arabia’s ancient past — a past that is now being embraced enthusiastically as the backbone of major tourism projects, such as AlUla and Diriyah, designed to bring in millions of visitors a year to the Kingdom.
For example, in the supposedly comprehensive 1998 Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art, published in 1998, there was not a single mention of Saudi Arabia — an oversight that would be dramatically exposed by Khan’s work.
To describe Khan as a pioneer in his field is to understate the impact he has had on the understanding of the extent and importance of the ancient past of the Kingdom.
Over the past four decades he has published dozens of research papers. The first, which he co-authored, was on “The Lower Miocene Fauna of Assarrar, Eastern Arabia,” published in Atlal, the Journal of Saudi Arabian Archaeology, in 1981.
His first book, which came out in 1993, shortly before his groundbreaking work on the prehistoric rock art of Saudi Arabia, was “The Origin and Evolution of Ancient Arabian Inscriptions,” also published by the Ministry of Education.
But it was to petroglyphs that he would devote the greater part of his energies, an academic commitment that in 2015 culminated in the rock art in the Hail region of Saudi Arabia being inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Along with two colleagues from the then-named Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, Jamal Omar and vice-president Prof. Ali Al-Ghabban, it was Khan’s name that appeared on the nomination text that saw the twin sites near Jubbah and Shuwaymis in the northern province of Hail recognized by UNESCO as being of “outstanding universal value.”
As Khan told Arab News in January 2021, “it was for me the most emotional moment of my 40 years of research.”
Not that he is resting on his laurels. Hail is not the only region in Saudi Arabia where rock art can be found, and “these days I am working on the rock-art site of Hima, Najran, to see it, too, placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.”
There are more than 2,000 rock-art sites around Saudi Arabia. But the greatest concentration of Neolithic petroglyphs, or rock carvings, and the oldest known examples, dating back 10,000 years, is to be found in the north of the country at two sites 300 kilometers apart in the Hail Province.
The ancient forebears of today’s Saudis had no paper, pens, or written language with which to record their time on earth.
But with the rocks of their dramatic landscapes as their canvas, thousands of years ago the ancient peoples of the land that would become Saudi Arabia found a way to leave their mark on history, with an astonishing pictorial representation of a now forgotten world, painstakingly pecked, chiseled and engraved out of the sandstone rocks of the region.
The first of the two Hail sites is at Jabal Umm Sinman, a rocky outcrop to the west of the town of Jubbah, some 90 kilometers northwest of the city of Hail and 680 kilometers from the capital, Riyadh.
The town’s origins date back to the dawn of Arab civilization, when the hills of Umm Sinman overlooked a freshwater lake, which eventually would be lost beneath the sands of the surrounding Nefud desert some 6,000 years ago.
It was on these hills, in the words of the UNESCO nomination document co-authored by Khan, that the ancestors of today’s Saudi Arabians “left the marks of their presence, their religions, social, cultural, intellectual and philosophical perspectives of their beliefs about life and death, metaphysical and cosmological ideologies.”
The rock art of Jubbah, said Khan, “represented all phases of human presence from the Neolithic, 10,000 years before the present, until the recent past,” and reflected a time when the climate and landscape were very different from today.
Etched upon the rocks, often at mysteriously inaccessible heights, are the trappings of a lost world: A parade of dancers, long-forgotten gods and goddesses, mythological figures, half-human, half-beast, and animals including sheep, ibex, camels, horses, wolves, ostriches and — reflecting a time when prey roamed abundant on the once lush plains of Arabia — lions.
“The type of animals (pictured) suggested changes in climate and environment,” said Khan. “Large ox figures indicated a cool and humid climate, while the absence of ox figures and the appearance of camel petroglyphs represented hot and dry conditions..
“Both at Jubbah and Shuwaymis this change in fauna and flora clearly represented gradual but drastic change in society and climate in the prehistoric and pre-Islamic era.”
Importantly, he said, similarities in themes and depictions in other parts of the world, including Africa, India, Australia, Europe and America, showed that “Saudi Arabia was part of world heritage and cultural traditions.”
Like other peoples around the world, “ancient Arab artists were drawing the animals with which they were living and depicting their social activities, like dancing and religious rituals.”
The second of the twin Hail sites is at Jabal Al-Manjor and Raat, 220 kilometers southwest of Jubbah near the village of Shuwaymis. Remarkably, its treasures were discovered only 20 years ago, a remarkable story in which, naturally, Khan played a leading role.
In 2002, Aramco World, the magazine of the Saudi national oil company, reported that in March the previous year a bedouin grazing his camels had stumbled on strange marks on a remote cluster of rocks. He happened to mention his find to a teacher from the local town of Shuwaymis. He alerted the authorities and they called in Khan.
“Yes, the story is correct,” Khan said. “I met both the bedouin and Mr. Saad Rawsan, the director of archaeology in the Hail region, who took us to the sites for further investigations and research.”
Together, he discovered, the twin sites told the story of over 9,000 years of human history, from the earliest pictorial records of hunting to the development of writing, religion and the domestication of animals including cattle, horses and camels.
As the UNESCO documents record, these sites justify their inscription on the World Heritage List because they feature “large numbers of petroglyphs of exceptional quality attributed to between 6,000 and 9,000 years of human history, followed in the last 3,000 years by very early development of writing that reflects the bedouin culture, ending in Qur’anic verses.”
Furthermore, the Jubbah and Shuwaymis sites comprise “the world’s largest and most magnificent surviving corpus of Neolithic petroglyphs.”
Neolithic rock art is found at many locations across Eurasia and North Africa, “but nowhere in such dense concentration or with such consistently high visual quality” as in this remote part of northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Peter Harrington, the London specialist book dealer that brought Khan’s book to Sharjah for the book fair, described it as “a pioneering monograph … the first and sole edition of this seminal work, which addresses a hitherto neglected subject, challenges the received wisdom that influences in rock art in the region originated from Mesopotamia, the Levant, and the Nile Valley, helped to put the Kingdom’s ancient past on the map of modern knowledge, and paved the way to the listing in 2015 of the rock art of the Hail region as a UNESCO World Heritage site.”
“I am extremely surprised to see the cost of my book,” Khan said after Arab News broke the news to him of the price being asked for the out-of-print volume at the Sharjah International Book Fair, although he had some news of his own.
“The ministry is printing it again.”
That, however, is unlikely to prove a deterrent for collectors always keen to snap up rare first editions of books dealing with the region’s history — and there are few histories as fascinating as that of the rock art of Saudi Arabia, and few books as significant in the growing appreciation of the Kingdom’s past as Khan’s 30-year-old volume.
Google search engine celebrated the late Hamed Gohar’s 115th birth anniversary on 15 November with a Google Doodle.
The Egyptian scientist, marine biologist and TV host, Gohar is considered the founding father of oceanography in Egypt and the Arab world.
Born on 15 November 1907, he studied medicine at Cairo University in 1925 before shifting to biology. He then received his master’s degree in oceanography from Cambridge University in 1931.
The note under the doodle adds that “Gohar discovered that dugong, a sea mammal that was thought to be extinct in the region, still existed in the Red Sea. He continued studying underwater life for 25 years at the Hurghada marine biological station.”
He worked with the Arabic Language Academy to create scientific dictionaries in Arabic and served as an adviser to the United Nations’ Secretary General and helped organize the first International Conference on Law of the Sea in Geneva.
The general public knows Gohar for his educational show called “The Sea World” which he hosted on national television for 18 years. The programme highlighted underwater scenery and natural sea life, bringing the viewers closer to marine biology.
1. Al Alam Palace, Muscat One of the country’s most easily identifiable and iconic landmarks, Al Alam Palace is the centrepiece of old Muscat, and one of the residences of the Sultan of Oman. The palace, with its signature gold and blue façade, tapering marble columns and intricately latticed windows, in many ways signifies Omani values and culture: it is simultaneously an edifice of tradition, history, elegance and simplicity…positive qualities that have made the welcoming and hospitable nature of Oman renowned the world over.
2. Royal Opera House Muscat Built to showcase the diversity of artistic creations from the Sultanate, the region and the world and provide a great space for culture, social and economic development and its implications, ROHM is the brainchild of the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimour, and was opened in 2011. One of the Middle East’s first opera houses, according to the Ministry of Tourism,
1. Al Alam Palace, Muscat One of the country’s most easily identifiable and iconic landmarks, Al Alam Palace is the centrepiece of old Muscat, and one of the residences of the Sultan of Oman. The palace, with its signature gold and blue façade, tapering marble columns and intricately latticed windows, in many ways signifies Omani values and culture: it is simultaneously an edifice of tradition, history, elegance and simplicity…positive qualities that have made the welcoming and hospitable nature of Oman renowned the world over.
2. Royal Opera House Muscat Built to showcase the diversity of artistic creations from the Sultanate, the region and the world and provide a great space for culture, social and economic development and its implications, ROHM is the brainchild of the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimour, and was opened in 2011. One of the Middle East’s first opera houses, according to the Ministry of Tourism,ix01
3. Muttrah Souq Probably the oldest souq of its kind in the Arab world, Muttrah Souq stands as a symbol of traditional Omani trade.A wide range of curios in silver, gold, precious gems and textiles are displayed in stalls deep inside the souq.Through the centuries, frankincense, oud and other scents prized in the Middle East have been sold and traded here.Silver lamps, urns and even antique Arabic manuscripts in traditional calligraphic script await your discovery.This is also the best place to find khanjars of different designs.
4. Corniches Have a long walk along the Muttrah Corniche from the Fish Roundabout to Riyam Park. The busy walkway is crowded with tourists, expats, and locals enjoying the oceanic views and the proximity to the historic Muttrah Souq. After your walk, you can linger at one of the numerous restaurants and cafes. Al Ghubra Corniche is a lush green stretch situated at Al Izdihar Street, near Al Ghubra lake garden, which is fast becoming a popular destination for family picnics because of its safe, quite ambiance. If you stop in the garden after your stroll, be ready to pack up your stuff before 11pm to avoid getting showered by the water sprinklers. Shatti Corniche is located on Shatti Street, locally known as ‘love street,’ this walkway is in a very happening area. With its beautiful palms, BBQ areas, and plenty of restaurants and cafes, it is perfect for an afternoon chill or for a lively evening watching all the sporty cars in Muscat cruising up and down the lane. Seeb Corniche is a beautifully developed 8-kilometre corniche located between Mabela and the Seeb fish market. It’s been renovated and adorned with trees and flowers along the interlocked walkway which also features a kids’ playground. This quiet place is a must-visit in the cool evenings.
5. Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque It is one of the largest mosques in the Sultanate of Oman, and is an architectural and artistic marvel that reflects the beauty of Islamic, Oriental and Omani art. According to Oman News Agency (ONA), Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is characterised by its square shape, in the centre of which is the main dome, which reaches a height of 50 metres, and is bordered by five minarets which represent the five pillars of Islam. The height of the main minaret reaches 91.5 metres, while the height of other minarets reach 45 metres.
6. Khabourah Castle Khabourah being located on the coast saw much activity through trade and commerce, requiring the need for fortifications against those who would attempt to raid and plunder the area for its wealth. In contrast, though, Khabourah Castle was not used as fortification, but a court where local disputes were brought to light. Renovations to the castle were made in 1994, using materials sourced locally from the surrounding areas.
7. Muscat Gate Museum It is located above Muscat Modern Gate, and tells the story of Oman’s long history, focusing on the history of Muscat. It describes the UNESCO world heritage listed Falaj irrigation system that Oman is famous for, as well as the nation’s distinctive architecture. According to Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, “The Muscat Gate Museum takes the visitor on a journey through the various stages of development and growth of the city over time, from a commercial port to a prosperous modern capital.” Located on Al Saidiya Street, Muscat Gate was earlier an official entrance for the old city of Muscat, which used to be shut after sunset. The museum is located atop the gate, from where you can enjoy the stunning views. Opened in January 2001, the museum contains displays about Oman’s history from the Neolithic times to the present.It has a number of special exhibits on Muscat’s water springs, the ancient wells, underground channels, the souqs, houses, mosques, harbours and forts.
8. Al Minzifah, Ibra The ruins of Al Minzifah, located a short distance from Ibra, the regional capital, provide indication of what life in Oman was like for some in the early 18th century. The houses, many of which date from the period of prosperity, are of two or occasionally three stories, built from local stone, cemented and plastered with local juss. Care should be taken not to move the structures of these fragile buildings.
9.Al Ayn and Bat Tombs Another of Oman’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Bat, Al Ayn and Al Khutm constitute a settlement and its accompanying necropolis that remain remarkably well-preserved given they were originally Bronze Age settlements. The tombs of Al Ayn are located some 30km north-east of the settlement of Bat, and feature 21 places of burial which seem to form up in an almost straight line. Built in a rather peculiar beehive-like structure, the tombs were constructed from limestone blocks and assembled with plaster made locally.
10. Duqm Rock Garden Entering the Rock Garden makes you feel as if you’ve fallen off the face of the earth and landed on another planet.The rocks that lend the garden its name have been shaped by millennia of wind-based erosion, and do lend the area a distinctly other-worldly quality which is only enhanced by the quiet surroundings.
11. Sharqiyah Sands Earlier known as Wahiba Sands, extends from North and South Al Sharqiyah Governorate to Al Wusta Governorate. With diverse terrain along with different species of flora and fauna, the golden dunes of the Sharqiyah Sands desert holds a special place in the hearts of those who live in Oman or come here as tourists. It extends over an area of up to about ten thousand square kilometres. According to Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, “The sand colour ranges from red to brown as far as the eye can see. It is the original homeland of the Bedouins. This area attracts many desert adventure fans, and is preferred by visitors owing to its ease of accessibility and availability of nearby services, which make it a first class tourist attraction.”
12. Kumzar, Musandam Travelling to Kumzar involves sailing through Musandam’s stunning fjords, which have earned this region the epithet ‘the Norway of Arabia’.The town overlooks the Straits of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, a fact reflected in the unique language spoken by its inhabitants, Kumzari,” says the Ministry of Tourism. “The town’s population currently stands at around five thousand, with its own school, hospital, power station and desalination plant. The inhabitants live largely by fishing for nine months of the year, netting barracuda, tuna, kingfish and hamour.
13. Sultan Qaboos Mosque, Nizwa Built to blend in yet stand out from the surrounding area, the Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Nizwa, the capital of the Dakhiliyah region, was built in 2009, and spans an area of 80,000 square metres.The mosque is capable of accommodating up to 10,500 worshippers, and with Nizwa being an historic centre of learning and knowledge in the Gulf, is a fitting location for the largest mosque in Oman, after the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat.
14. Ayn Jarziz, Dhofar Travel to Oman’s southern region in the summer, and experiences amazing weather seldom seen elsewhere. While the rest of the Gulf witnesses peak temperatures, the Dhofar’s Khareef season brings with it refreshing rains and cool breezes, which turn the entire landscape green and bring people from across the world.
15. Al Ayjah Bridge, Sur Also known as the Khor Al Batah bridge, and considered to be Oman’s only suspension bridge, this 240 metre long bridge was opened in 2009, and helped link Sur to the neighbouring settlement of Al Ayjah. Travelling to Kumzar involves sailing through Musandam’s stunning fjords, which have earned this region the epithet ‘the Norway of Arabia’. Many visit the country’s northern bastion to enjoy the rugged natural beauty, as well as the clear blue waters that are just begging to be dove into.
16. Mirbat, Dhofar The former capital of the Dhofar region, Mirbat was an important port when it came to trading frankincense, and is a wonderful destination featuring many historical sites, delicious seafood and a lovely, serene landscape. It has many natural tourist sites, historical monuments and buildings of ancient architecture, most notably the castle of Mirbat, which is one of the most important historical and archaeological sites in the wilayat. It overlooks the coast of the ancient port of Mirbat and dates back to the ninth century AD. The castle sits on a cliff and offers superb views of the crashing waves along the coast line.
17.Salut, Ad Dakhiliyah The ruins of Salut are about an hour’s drive from Nizwa, the capital of the Dakhiliyah region, and feature some of the first permanent settlements built in the country. While in the area, also visit Salut Castle, where a number of relics from the archaeological site have been painstakingly restored and installed.
18. Land of Frankincense, Dhofar Located in the south of the country, the Land of Frankincense is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Salalah that consists of four separate sites.Farmers harvested the nuggets of the frankincense resin from the trees that grew in the groves of Wadi Dawkah, where they would be loaded onto caravans that stopped over at the oasis of Shisr, also known as Wubar. From there, the bags would be transported to the twin ports of Al Baleed and Khor Rori, to be loaded onto ships which would sail onward to destinations such as Egypt, Rome and China.
19. Barr Al Hikman Located about 500 kilometres south of Muscat, Barr Al Hikman in Al Wusta Governorate is considered one of the most important bird migration stations both in Oman and the region. Many birds congregate here, especially water birds coming from as far as Siberia’s northern shores. In addition to being a sanctuary for birds and fish of all kinds, the existence of coral reefs off its shores make it a favourite destination for divers. More than 1 million shorebirds flock to Barr Al Hikman and Masirah Island every year, according to experts.
20. Bilad Sayt Bilad Sayt is a quaint village seated at the foot of towering and dramatic Hajar mountain ranges. With its picture-postcard perfection of terraced fields and sun-baked houses, it’s one of the prettiest villages in Oman. The villagers prefer visitors to park outside and walk in or simply view the village from a distance. A little haze blanketed the village that was built up on a hill with closely clustered homes made of mud and stone. The village is surrounded by date palms within it is terraced green fields making it look like a dream village. Jagged brown mountains surrounded and loomed over Bilad Sayt, dwarfing the whole village.
21. Masirah Island Masirah Island in the Governorate of South A’Sharqiyah is a popular tourist destination. Known for kite-surfing, bird-watching, the uninhabited beaches, the magnificent sea views and rugged terrains, Masirah draws visitors throughout the year. The beaches are home to sea turtles. The tourists are attracted mostly by the turtles scattered along the beaches of Masirah. 22. Bimmah Sinkhole With its emerald-green waters and serene surroundings, the Bimmah sinkhole is located some 120km from Muscat.Tourists who get to see the sinkhole and its pristine waters are more than welcome to descend to the bottom through a concrete staircase that has been erected for just this purpose.
23. Dates Oman is known for its unique hospitality and it is common for visitors to be invited for Omani coffee and dates when travelling through the country. Be it any household or an office, guests are welcomed with home-grown dates and traditionally brewed drinks called ‘Kahwa. One can find many date palm fields across many governorates in the Sultanate and farmers grow more than 250 indigenous varieties of dates. Khalas, Khunaizi, and Fargh are some of the best dates grown in Oman. While Al Khalas is believed to be of the best quality, other varieties like Nagal, Ash Patash, Bunaranja, Mmajdool, Hilali al Hassa, Barni, and Mathloob are quite in demand. 24. Ain Al Thawarah hot springs Close to the Nakhal Fort, along a winding road framed by palm trees as far as the eye can see, are the Ain Al Thawarah hot springs. This spring is used as a trusted water supply, and there is even a small pool to enjoy the therapeutic properties of the mineral water. Beyond the date plantations that surround Nakhal Fort, this hot spring emerges from the wadi walls and is directed into a falaj (irrigation channel) for the irrigation of the surrounding plantations.
25. Bahla Fort Bahla Fort is situated at the foot of the Jebel Akhdar highlands in Oman and is a UNESCO-listed fort.The fort underwent massive restoration efforts and reopened in 2012. According to UNESCO, “ Bahla is an outstanding example of a fortified oasis settlement of the medieval Islamic period, exhibiting the water engineering skill of the early inhabitants for agricultural and domestic purposes. The pre-gunpowder style fort with rounded towers and castellated parapets, together with the perimeter wall of stone and mud brick technology demonstrates the status and influence of the ruling elite.”
26.Jabal Shams About 3,500 metres above sea level, in the Wilayat of Al Hamra in Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah is another tourist attraction. It has a unique temperature ranging between 0 in winter and 25°C to 35°C in summer. It is a part of the Al Hajar Mountains range. Life at the summit is something else. While being there, you can enjoy camping, and watching the sunrise and sunset. You can also visit the historical village of “Goul,” which is entirely built with rocks and mud, uniquely sitting on the edge of Jabal Shams, overlooking vast areas of farms. The village is called “Oman’s Grand Canyon” due to the fact that it overlooks a towering canyon called “Shurfat Al Nakhr.”
27.Wadi Bani Khalid Located some 200 km from Muscat, Wadi Bani Khalid is a traveller’s paradise that encapsulates the unique, sometimes unbelievable, natural beauty of Oman. Often thought to be a harsh, unforgiving desert, Oman is anything but, and areas like Wadi Bani Khalid go a long way in proving that the Sultanate has a diverse and varied natural beauty.
28.Wadi Shab Wadi Shab in Tiwi in the Wilayat of Sur is a famous tourist destination especially in summer. In the midst of awe-inspiring mountains, naturally carved into the most beautiful shapes by the water, there are shallow lakes surrounded by huge boulders, overlooked by narrow rugged trekking pathways attached to the mountains.
29.Wadi Al Hoqain About 150 km from the Governorate of Muscat, is one of the beautiful wadis in the Wilayat of Al Rustaq which runs throughout the year.
30. Wadi Daiqah Dam It is in the Wilayat of Qurayat and is also one of the key tourist attractions.
31. Wadi Al Arbiyeen It is in Rustaq and is considered one of the most spectacular wadis in Oman. The deep pools at the edge of Al Hajar mountains, the palm trees, mango orchards, and banana farms make it a must visit place for visitors. Wadi Al Hawqayn is another picturesque wadi located between Muscat Governorate and Wilayat Rustaq. It had year-round flowing springs and streams, as well as cool waterfalls and palm trees. On the road to Sur from Bidbid lies the lush green Wadi Bani Khalid.
32. Manah The wilayat of Manah is in the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah, 160km away from Muscat. It is known for its old ruined villages along with the modern houses, mosques, and towers. The wilayat has eight villages: Harat Al Bilad, Mu’ammad, Al Ma’arra, Izz, Al Faiqain, Al Mahiyul, Abu Nakhilah and Mitan. There are several archaeological sites and buildings of which Al Fiqain Castle is the most prominent one.
33. Jabal Akhdar Situated 2,330m above sea level, the temperature is cool here, while the rest of the Gulf experiences scorching heat. You can see beautiful green terraced gardens, and if you love trekking, it’s a paradise for you. Apart from the pomegranates you can see olives, figs, walnuts, and peaches on street stalls and in every house and farm. On the other hand in March and April you can pluck the fresh roses from gardens. You can also see a rose factory where rosewater and perfume is still made using traditional methods.
34. The Land of Frankincense Located in the coastal area of Salalah between Dhariz and Hafa, Al Baleed is one of the ancient cities of Oman and was known to be one of an important commercial port.The Land of Frankincense is one of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in Oman and was once the centre of the ancient world’s thriving frankincense trade. Heaps of rubbles can be found scattered all around the main site where the excavation work is still under process. 35. Khareef season The Khareef season is characterised by its cloudy and rainy weather due to the density of clouds and the temperature dropping to less than 30 degrees Celsius in the city of Salalah, while it drops more in the high mountainous areas surrounded by fog associated with light rain. Salalah is transformed into a beautiful oasis due to the light drizzles that cool the air. 36. Bandar Al Khayran Tucked between captivating sandy mountains 21-kilometres up hilly Qantab Road from Muscat, Bandar Al Khayran is an idyllic retreat with crystal clear waters and a soft sand beach that will make you feel a world away. 37. Al Hoota Cave Some 250km away from Muscat is the spectacular Al Hoota Cave amidst plateaus and rugged mountain peaks. Known for its natural formation of stalactites and stalagmites, Al Hoota Cave offers a fascinating insight into the cave that is more than 2 million years old.
38. Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve Turtle nesting tours at Ras Al Jinz allow visitors to witness the spectacle in an intimate fashion without fear of interrupting the creatures. The turtle sanctuary at Ras Al Jinz combines an interactive museum with research laboratories and a wide range of amenities for visitors to learn all about the wonders of these ancient creatures in a family-friendly environment. 39. Khor Rori Khawr Rawrī or Khor Rori is a bar-built estuary (or river mouth lagoon) at the mouth of Wādī Darbāt in the Dhofar Governorate, Oman, near Taqah.It is a major breeding ground for birds,and used to act as an important harbour for frankincense trade when it was an open estuary. Khor Rori is best known for the ruins of the ancient fortified port city of Sumhuram on the eastern bank. There are also archeological ruins on the two promontories at the mouth of Khor Rori. It is considered the most attractive to tourists as it contains Khawr Ruri port, famously known as Samharam.
40. Khawr Sham Khawr Sham is located in Khasab and the lagoon covers 20 kilometres. Many villages overlook Khawr Sham, which can be reached only by sea in traditional vessels. Khawr Sham is considered a tourist destination for hiking, camping and watching dolphins. According to Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, “In the middle of Khawr Sham is a small island called Al Telegraph Island, as in 1860 it was used as a base to connect to the telegraph cable.” 41. Daymaniyat Islands Rich in many types of coral reefs, including rare corals, The Daymaniyat Islands Reserve, lies 18 km off the shores of Barka and is 70km west of Muscat. The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, describing the reserve, said in a statement, “The reserve is a group of nine islands with a total area of 100 hectares. It is distinguished by its beautiful beaches, white sands and clear blue waters. It also includes rare groups of coral reefs and large numbers of sea turtles which take shelter in the islands to lay eggs and nest. There are countless migratory and settlement birds too which can be seen here.” 42. Horse Racing Horse breeding has been a long-treasured passion for Omanis and has always been an interest among Arab nobility. Horse racing is a sport enjoyed by all in Oman. “Interest in horses in Oman is one of the most cherished pastimes for the Omanis,” said the Ministry of Tourism. “Horses symbolise integrity and pride. Because of the horse’s high status and appreciation by Muslims, Oman has been famous since ancient times for raising, breeding, acquiring and caring for horses. Horse racing is a favourite pastime for Omanis. Horse races are held annually, and include the Royal Horse Race, organised by the Royal Stables, and horse racing in the Omani governorates.”
43. Camels Oman has a deep-rooted connection with camels, it is one of the countries in the Gulf region that has accorded a special status for camels. Known as the ‘Ship of the Desert’, camels have an extraordinary ability to withstand thirst and endure long journeys to remote places.
44. Khanjar Of all the symbols and artefacts traditionally associated with Oman’s history, heritage, and culture, few have been so dear to locals and expatriates alike as the khanjar. A classic example of Omani tradition and reputation as one of the jewels of Arabia, the khanjar is a dagger worn for the most exalted and ceremonial of occasions, and residents in the country have not hesitated to express their praise for it.
45. Nizwa Fort Nizwa Fort was recently ranked first in terms of the number of visitors among the castles of the Sultanate. One of the main attractions of the city, Nizwa Fort, an impressive construct under whose shadow the major part of old Nizwa lies. In the olden days, it served as a bastion for noblemen and peasants alike to take shelter from raiders and bandits who attempted to plunder the countryside.
46. Shuwa Shuwa is a traditional Omani meat dish cooked in an underground oven during Eid.
47. Handicraft Oman’s handicrafts that are mostly home-based and done by using simple tools have a huge demand among tourists who buy these artefacts as souvenirs. Showcasing the Sultanate’s rich culture and heritage, these handcrafted products include pottery items, products made of palm fronds, silverware and more. According to Oman’s Ministry of Tourism, “Omani arts and crafts are revered treasures that need to be preserved and popularised. Arts and crafts also serve as the main source of vocation of the citizens in the interior regions of the country. Handicraft industry, if developed properly, can provide huge employment opportunities to artisans that include women and people belonging to interior regions of the country.
48. Wadi Darbat Wadi Darbat is one of the most beautiful wadis in the Governorate of Dhofar due to its stunning views due to greenery, lush orchards, constant flow of water, and seasonal waterfalls. Wadi Darbat is located in the east of the wilayat of Taqah at a distance of 7 kilometers, where Sidr trees and many large shady trees are spread on its sides. Derbat is known to represent a natural park due to its combined elements such as mountains, waterfalls, caves, and flat plains on both the sides, which allows wildlife such as the nests of endemic and migratory birds and various wild animals to exist.
49.Qalhat Once the capital of ancient Oman, the city of Qalhat was recently placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites for its historical significance and its role in Oman’s evolution between the 11th and 15th centuries. “The Ancient City of Qalhat presents a unique testimony to the Kingdom of Hormuz, as it prospered from the 11th to 16th century CE,” UNESCO informed in a statement. “Ancient Qalhat presents exceptional evidence of a major trade hub, which came under the rule of the Princes of Hormuz and profited from its geo-political position in the region.”
50.Rub Al Khali Home to towering dunes there are many stories of famous explorers having travelled to Rub Al Khali. One of the largest sand deserts in the world, the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) is teeming with wildlife, ranging from reptiles to various birds of prey and smaller mammals. 51. Dolphin Watching Several places in Oman are known for their dolphin habitats. The capital, Muscat, is of course known for dolphin watching, but other areas like the Dimaniyat and Masirah Islands are also popular, as both are great places from which you can spot dolphins, as is Musannah, which is roughly halfway between Muscat and Sohar.
52. Al Hamra Al Hamra is a well-preserved old town in Ad Dakhiliyah, Oman. Walking through its warren of alleys and stone steps is like going back in time. It is home to a number of villages including the mountainside village of Misfat Al Abryeen, with the village of Ghul to the northwest of the town, and Bimah to the north-northeast.The town and province lie on the southern slopes of the Akhdar Mountains.
An interview with Sada Mire dives into the difficulties and rewards of preserving history and letting local perspectives guide heritage management in Somalia and Somaliland.
SOMALIA AND SOMALILAND are home to a rich heritage of archaeological treasures. But until recently, there was only one active, formally trained Somali archaeologist working in the region: Sada Mire.
In 1991, Mire was forced to flee Somalia with her family as a teenager after her father was killed by a genocidal government. She gained asylum in Sweden and eventually earned her Ph.D. in archaeology from University College London. During her studies, she learned that some of the significant stone tools that shaped scientists’ views of evolution came from Somaliland but were taken to Europe during the colonial era.
Inspired, Mire returned to her homeland determined to retell the history of the Horn of Africa and preserve its heritage—despite the difficulty of working in a region where religious sects jealously control narratives around Somali history and identity, and political conflict is causing humanitarian crises.
Somaliland is not officially a nation-state. It’s a self-declared country that is considered part of Somalia. A British protectorate since the 1880s, Somaliland became an independent country recognized by the United Nations on June 26, 1960. Less than a week later, it merged with the newly independent country Somalia. Early political tensions worsened in 1969 when Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre staged a coup and installed himself as president, imposing ethnic nationalist policies that favored one of the main Somali clans over the rest.
In the 1980s, civil war broke out between Barre’s dictatorship and the Somali National Movement, primarily composed of the Isaaq clan, the largest in northwest Somalia, including what is today Somaliland. The Barre government committed acts of genocide against the Isaaq clan, reportedly killing 200,000 Isaaq people between 1987 and 1989. Millions fled during the conflict, including Mire and her family, who belong to the Isaaq clan.
In 1991, with Barre ousted, Somaliland reasserted itself by declaring unilateral independence, this time without international recognition. But Mire always refers to Somalia and Somaliland as separate nations because, she says, “as an anthropologist, I call people what they say they are, and I respect that’s the decision of the country and its people.”
Mire has worked tirelessly to create change that fosters heritage preservation in a region with scant infrastructure to support archaeological work. She established the Department of Tourism and Archaeology in Somaliland and is creating a digital museum that features Somali objects and materials. Mire is deliberate about teaching archaeological skills to local people so they may carry out their own work at the community and institutional levels. All these are steps toward sharing the rich legacy of African peoples with African communities and the rest of the world.
Wenner-Gren Foundation project director and anthropologist Eshe Lewis interviewed Mire via Zoom in May. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
EL:
Can you talk about your background and how you came to be an archaeologist working in Somalia and Somaliland?
SM:
It’s incredible that I am here now, that I have a university degree, that I even went to high school. My father and mother were educated. My brother now teaches in a university in Somaliland. My twin sister is a gynecological oncologist. In my family, it was understood that you got an education or you did what you could to educate yourself. My twin sister and I were very studious.
But because of the political situation in Somalia at the time, our clan became a target. At the age of 12, I lost all my rights to have an education. We were expelled from school, and we never thought we would be able to go back. From then on, I was self-taught. I read books and learned languages at home. The habit of learning and teaching myself has never left me.
EL:
Why is it important to conduct archaeological research in Somaliland and Somalia? And what are the most fulfilling aspects of the work you’re doing?
SM:
Right from the start, it was all about why we have so little representation of African history and African people, who have existed for over 200,000 years on the African continent. We have contributed so much to culture, science, technology, governance, philosophy, and literature, and there is nothing about it in the history books. In 2022, you have people who have no idea about what Africa has done. So, that is the number one reason I do what I do.
Also, I feel I can make the world a better place. I know that sounds like such a cliché, but I really think that if history books are revised, people will understand what others are worth, and they will appreciate their trajectory. Removing African history and experiences and holistic images from books creates a situation where people know nothing about, and hence fear, African people. And the few that live up to the negative stereotypes become the rule for them.
If your classmate doesn’t know your history, they don’t know you. They cannot. I believe that by understanding a nation’s past, a people’s past, a person’s past, we can appreciate them. We may not like what they do, but we understand them. I feel that there is so much work to be done to shed light on the history of Black people, Africans, and people of color.
EL:
What research and heritage protection work do you do in the region?
SM:
One of the longest research projects I’ve been doing is on medicinal and sacred plants through medical anthropology. I’m also a zooarchaeologist and a bone specialist. So, some of what we are preserving is that kind of archaeological material, including massacre sites from the recent genocide. I’m working on another project about astronomy. We found one of the earliest calendars—a whole ancient rock art site with the calendars painted. We are working with local researchers who study folklore and have created the first traditional Somali calendar.
In Somali nomadic culture, we have our own way of preserving heritage and an understanding of heritage that really clashed with [Western] best practices and this notion of monuments and artifacts—the more dogmatic UNESCO formula. UNESCO now covers intangible heritage, but often when Westerners do archaeology in the Horn of Africa—and especially in the Somali region—it’s really extractive. It comes from a tradition of going somewhere with the agenda of getting data out and filling a gap. That scientific and/or, often, Eurocentric gap is not the gap of the people.
Somalis challenged me right from the start when I said, “You don’t protect archaeological sites. The museums are being looted. You don’t care about your heritage!” They said, “No, that’s not our heritage.” I was confused, as a Western-educated student, that we did not care about these objects. I asked, “What is your heritage if you don’t care about this?” And they said, “Ah! Now we’ll tell you.”
EL:
How did you respond?
SM:
I developed something I called the Knowledge-Centered Approach based on what I learned about heritage from them, and this is what guides me. It’s the preservation of knowledge and skill rather than objects and artifacts. Heritage is performance that takes place on different mediums. You know, if you are in a scene, there is a sofa, maybe a chair, the way you are dressed, how you look, speak, and act. That is our heritage! That shows us as living, thinking human beings with logic.
I developed a framework to study this. It is called the ritual set, and I outlined it in my book Divine Fertility. Understanding African peoples’ logic links us with our past. In my own work it’s about an ideology of a sacred kinship and sustainability. This is the whole idea behind my book.
I explore Somalis’ questions about their identity. Who were we? Where do we come from? Why have we been told we are Arabs when we are Africans? Clearly, we are Black, and we are in Africa.
I also have personal questions about my heritage. Somalis are Muslims, but did we ever have any other ideology? Were we at some point something else? Why do we only know Islam?
Why do we think our ancestors were all from Arab countries, when in fact we are genetically the same as the Oromo, who are our neighbors? We have 50 percent lexical similarity. They look like me, I look like them, we practice the same traditional rituals. They may be Christian, and we may be Muslim, but we share Indigenous culture. Those questions have really not been answered by archaeologists or historians working in the Horn of Africa, local or foreign. There is a huge scientific gap, and for that public, I fill that gap.
EL:
Has there been any backlash to your work?
SM:
In 2009, my Ph.D. dissertation was put under restricted access because I was threatened by extremists. As soon as my book was published in 2020, I faced fresh threats from ideologues who are not interested in scientific research or common sense.
EL:
What is the source of this reaction?
SM:
This is misogyny. These are people who hate women and who use anything they can to stop them. They also fear intellectual women—and are afraid that there’s somebody researching and finding diversity in our past. However, this is not only restricted to my region; extremists of all religions have always dogmatically advanced a certain purity and homogeneity. Look at what is happening in India. I wrote my first ever academic article on the Ayodhya conflict in India, and I was prepared when I entered the Horn that I would have to deal with dogmatic views on our past.
There is a plurality of practices, identities, landscape hues, and traditions that link us to our African heritage. And it’s not a bad place to be from if you really open your mind and understand the heritage of this place, the history of food production, the linguistic plurality of Ethiopia, the Nile civilizations of Meroe, Aksum, Nubia, all the way to Upper and Lower Egypt. You have Rwanda and Uganda, with [one of] the earliest iron productions anywhere in the world, an independent invention! The history and heritage are incredible!
EL:
What are some of the challenges you face when doing heritage preservation in a conflict zone?
SM:
Everything I do in this region is soaked in challenges.
This is a post-conflict situation where the country is not officially recognized, where there are no legal instruments and no notion of heritage. My paper in 2007 was the first study of heritage in Somaliland. The heritage work I’ve been doing the past 15 years has involved establishing a law for heritage protection and physically protecting sites through measures like fencing and hiring guardians and custodians, but also preservation so that we have digital documentation and heritage research.
But the lack of understanding of heritage creates more challenges. People see Westerners who have worked there, and without exception, none of them has worked on heritage. Everything has been “go and dig.” This has also led to conflict within the people I train. They say, “Sada, you never do excavations. You’re the odd one because you’re not digging.” And I say, “How can we excavate when we don’t have laws or a single museum?” We dig a grave, and then what? What is protecting that grave? What are the legal instruments that oblige anybody to protect it or to hold others accountable?
The people who are coming here to dig have laws and museums in their countries. The contracts are signed with their laws, even though it’s our country. There’s a knowledge and awareness gap with the locals who don’t understand the way they are being exploited. There’s a sense of archaeology as a White man’s sport, as fun and extractive and magical—all these words that mystify it for local people. If someone comes along and says, “Let’s dig up what’s in there,” it appeals to our human curiosity.
That was the archaeological stance 400 years ago. But in Africa, [some people think] it’s OK for it to be at that level today.
There are so many Africans who are interested in this field, have awareness, and want to change things.
EL:
Can you talk about your efforts to encourage more Africans to get involved in heritage preservation and to collaborate across countries?
SM:
When I was at Leiden University, I created the online course Heritage Under Threat because I knew a lot of people didn’t have the opportunity to come to a place like Leiden to study a world-class course. Over 7,000 people have taken part. This was around 2015, when not many Black people were professors of archaeology and teaching online courses. So, for students it was a free, advanced course taught by a Black woman with a lot of African material that everybody could take part in. From that experience, I realized there are so many Africans who are interested in this field, who have awareness, and who want to change things.
When I created the Horn Heritage Foundation, the idea was to work in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Eritrea, and to have a regional exchange. And that’s what we’re doing—coordinating on a regional level so we are not isolated in our thinking. This has been one of the colonial goals within Africa: to isolate people from each other so they don’t value each other or each other’s experiences and contributions—to keep them unaware.
Academic divide and rule continues through gatekeeping. For example, funding is allocated through Western institutions by Western, and often White, male panels. Often, those coming to Africa with the funding prefer to work with people who will go along with whatever they are doing. There’s a lot of that going on, unfortunately.That is exactly what I was hinting at in my piece in The Guardian —that African heritage is still very much neglected, and the whole system is rather self-serving. It does not help that in various parts of Africa there are conflicts that limit how much can be done on the ground. So people, including foreign teams, tend to not leave the beaten track—not just physically but also conceptually. This impacts African heritage and its future.
What archaeology analyzes are things we have shed over the generations that come from our bodies, our movement, our intellectual process. When that continuity is denied, we are alienated from our history and then reintroduced to it by someone coming from hundreds of miles away. In this way, archaeological tools have been used to aid the colonial process.
EL:
What can be done to change this, to create a path toward a different future?
SM:
I am one of the few African archaeologists who have worked in several African countries. We need greater interaction and collaboration between African archaeologists in the continent. Africans need to have access to tools so they can do the work themselves. Online courses and free or accessible outlets help to do that.
When we were doing the digital heritage project documenting rock art, we were interested in training people using what they have. You have an iPhone? You can do a lot with an iPhone. You can edit and be the author and present [at a conference]. You can advocate. As Africans, we should have our own organic questions about our own identity and culture, and have the opportunity to explore them.
That’s what I mean when I say “cultural heritage is a basic human need.” It’s not something we should get from somewhere else; it’s already here. We are experienced. We are living that reality. It’s ours.
The UNESCO Chair for World Heritage Management and Sustainable Tourism at the German University of Technology in Oman was inaugurated Under the patronage of H.E. Salim bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi; Minister of Heritage and tourism and with the participation of H.E. Shaikha Mai Bint Mohamed Al Khalifa; Chairperson of the Board of directors of the Arab the Regional Center for World Heritage.
Prof. Dr. Michael Braun, Rector of the University, introduced the university and its commitment to research and innovation; and commented that the chair comes as a great accomplishment on the university’s 15th anniversary.
Chairholder Professor Dr. Heba Aziz of the UNESCO chair at GUtech stated: “The establishment of the UNESCO chair at GUtech offers new research, teaching and learning opportunities at GUtech and is a further recognition of GUtech’s academic focus on the field of cultural heritage and sustainable tourism management”
The Chairholder Professor Aziz added “Oman’s vision 2040 remains at the core of the chair’s activity. National priorities focusing on Citizenship, Identity, National Heritage and Culture, sustainable cities and governorates and employment and labour markets are the compass that directs the chairs activity. The chair will work closely with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism to make sure that it provides the necessary scientific research and labour force to achieve its vision.”
World Heritage Sites draws international attention to heritage sites of outstanding universal value and is expected to increase the number of visitors to these sites. The chair aims to support the role of world heritage in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals by employing tourism in its comprehensive and sustainable manifestation to drive socio-economic development and to maximize benefits to the communities surrounding these sites.
The Chair is established in partnership with the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, a UNESCO Category II Centre based in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The center serves 19 Arab States in the promotion and management of cultural and natural sites by providing technical support and reinforcing the implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention in the region.
The chair complements the role that of the center and will introduce several academic programs in the field of tourism management in World Heritage sites, digitization of heritage, heritage narrative and interpretation and heritage economics. GUtech will also introduce Master’s degree in World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism management in collaboration with the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage.
The chair team consists of Jokha Al Saqri, researcher in Heritage studies, Prof. Dr. Osman Barghouth co-chair holder and Prof. Dr. Heba Aziz, UNESCO chair holder
This is the first chair specialized in this field and the first UNESCO chair concerned with the field of World Heritage for the Arab region as a whole.
The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property has awarded King Faisal University a patent for an alternative solution for sterilization of dates to increase their shelf life from one month to 100 days.
Dr. Fahd bin Abdulrahman Al-Asmari, assistant professor in microbiology and food safety at the university’s department of food and nutrition sciences, said: “This achievement is eco-friendly since it only relies on natural materials that do not harm humans or the environment.
“A photosensitization technique is used in this process, where dates are sprayed with photosensitizers, to be later exposed to light with a specified wavelength within the visible range.
“During the process, light waves (photons) react with photosensitizers, causing a reaction between the photons and the nanoparticles of the latter. The products of such reaction are high energy and oxidizing materials, which are used to kill microbes.”
The Kingdom ranks among the top date-producing countries in the world, and Al-Asmari described the fruit as a “strategic product” for the country.
The production and storage of dates encounter several challenges including environmental factors and microbes.
Al-Asmari pointed out that a few years ago his team noticed fungi nucleus growing on dates with higher sugar content, which were lost shortly after storage. This led the team to investigate alternative eco-friendly and efficient ways to preserve dates.
But initial experiments proved unproductive. “We noticed change in the color and texture of the preserved dates, rendering them non-consumable,” Al-Asmari added.
However, after many other attempts a breakthrough was found.
“We found a new method that relies on adopting a unique approach using natural materials. This method is eco-friendly and not harmful. In addition, it is a great alternative to the use of sterilizing chemicals in some date factories.
“This alternative method processes dates by photosensitization, where dates are sprayed with natural photosensitizers. Dates become sensitive to light rays, and they are exposed to intense light known as the visible spectrum,” he added.
As a result, the shelf life of dates can be extended by as much as three times.
He said: “This invention will prolong the dates validity period, improve their quality, and raise the competence of their marketing outside the Kingdom.”
The university has now been awarded 12 patents this year.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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The production and storage of dates encounter several challenges including environmental factors and microbes. (Shutterstock)
The projects include restorations of the site of the Battle of the (Trench), Al-Faqir well, and Al-Qiblatayn Mosque
More than 100 sites in Madinah with connections to the life of the Prophet Muhammad and other important events in Islamic history will be restored and developed as part of a three-year package of projects that was announced by Saudi authorities on Wednesday and will run until 2025.
Unveiled during a ceremony inaugurated by Governor of Madinah Prince Faisal bin Salman, the projects include restorations of the site of the Battle of the (Trench), Al-Faqir well, and Al-Qiblatayn Mosque.
An agreement has also been signed for renovations at Uthman bin Affan well and Sayed Al-Shuhada Square, and work is underway on studies for restoration work at more than 100 other historical Islamic sites in Madinah.
During the ceremony, which was organized by Al-Madinah Region Development Authority, the Saudi Heritage Authority, and the Pilgrims Experience Program, heritage chiefs also announced that eight Islamic historical sites in Madinah have already been restored to their former glory: Al-Ghamama Mosque, Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque, Umar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, Al-Saqiya Mosque, Banu Anif Mosque, Al-Rayah Mosque, Ghars Well, and the fort at Arwa bin Al-Zubair Castle.
Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, the minister of Hajj and Umrah and chairman of the Islamic Historical Sites Committee, thanked the governor of Madinah and said the committee is working to turn the desire of the Saudi leadership to preserve Islamic heritage into a reality that can be enjoyed by pilgrims and other visitors.
He added that the “Kingdom seeks, through projects, to rehabilitate and activate historical sites, to open its doors to pilgrims and visitors from all over the world, enabling them to enjoy a rich cultural experience” through which they can explore Islamic historical treasures and learn about authentic Saudi culture.
Find out more about the eight sites that have been renovated:
Al-Ghamama Mosque:
Located near the Prophet’s Mosque, it was built by Umar bin Abdul Aziz at a place where the Prophet Muhammad worshipped during Eid and prayed for rain. The site was also used by Uthman bin Affan for the same purpose.
Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque:
Built using a wonderful architectural style, this is the second of two sites where the Prophet Muhammad performed Eid prayers during his lifetime. First caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq also prayed here during Eid, hence its name. It was built by Umar bin Abdul Aziz.
Umar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque:
Located in Al-Musallah, this mosque was named after Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
Al-Saqiya Mosque:
The name of this mosque came from its proximity to the Saqia well.
Banu Anif Mosque:
Originally built from basalt and located southwest of Quba Mosque, only about two meters of its walls remained before it was renovated.
Ghars Well:
A well from which the Prophet Muhammad drew water. He asked that when he died, his body be washed in water from the well before burial.
Al-Rayah Mosque:
Built by Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the site where the Prophet Muhammad prayed while supervising the digging of the trench ahead of the Battle of the (Trench).
The fort at Arwa bin Al-Zubair castle:
A defensive fortress built of volcanic rock, used for military protection.
The Ministry of Transport announced via a tweet on 18 October 2022 that the Lusail Bus Depot has entered the Guinness World Records for the largest electric bus depot.
The bus depot that was inaugurated on 18 October 2022 has a capacity of 478 electric buses and is a fulfilment of The Public Works Authority – Ashghal and the Ministry of Transport of Qatar.
Powered by 11,000 units of solar panels the bus depot entered the records on 16 September 2022 as per Guinness World Records.
source/content: iloveqatar.net (headline edited)
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Source: Ministry of Transport/ Guinness World Records / Cover image credit: Ministry of Transport
Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Chairman of the Committee leading Great Arab Minds, and Secretary-General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), highlighted the details of “The Great Arab Minds” initiative.
Launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in January 2022, the initiative is the Arab world’s largest movement designed to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields.
The Great Arab Minds initiative, under the MBRGI, aims to identify, support and acknowledge leading thinkers in the region, amplify their impact and inspire future generations. One of its main purposes is to reduce the emigration of Arab scientists, specialists, intellectuals, doctors, and engineers.
He affirmed that “The Great Arab Minds” initiative reflect His Highness’ vision in reigniting the Arab World’s Civilisation Drive, support great Arab minds and acknowledge their work and achievements, in service of humanity.
Mohammad Al Gergawi pointed out the importance of the Arab Reading Challenge initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, among many other development projects, serving more than 91 million beneficiaries.
A study conducted by KPMG, showed that ignorance costs the Arab world more than US$2 trillion. The Great Arab Minds initiative aims to change this reality and contribute to shaping a brighter future for Arab generations.
During an event organised in the Museum of the Future to announce the details of the initiative, Mohammad Al Gergawi witnessed the signing of four partnerships between “The Great Arab Minds” initiative and KPMG, LinkedIn, Meta, and Majarra.
The initiative’s mission is to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields, aiming to identify, support and acknowledge leading thinkers in the region, amplify their impact and inspire future generations.
Over a 5-year period, “The Great Arab Minds” will reward scientists, thought leaders, scholars, and innovators across 6 categories: Natural Sciences (Physics and Chemistry), Medicine, Literature and Arts, Economics, Technology and Engineering, and Architecture & Design.
The initiative includes the “Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Great Arab Minds”, which will be awarded to 6 winners of six categories each year.
The Great Arab Minds initiative aims to facilitate the recognition of Arab thought leaders, scholars, scientists, geniuses, and transforming their ideas to real-life breakthroughs and solutions. It also aims at empowering cluster of Arab scientists and thinkers and building a network of Arab thinkers, scientists, and exceptional talents in various fields to work as one team to drive the Arab world’s intellectual renaissance.
